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The zodiacal signs impact art, advertising, literature, history, mythology, psychology, health, and language with their evocative imagery, symbols and scientific and religious lore. This fact-filled reference guide pulls together applications of the zodiacal signs in those fields and others. Each sign is explicated in a separate chapter which discusses its origin and importance in diverse cultures, including its history, artistic applications, traditions, literary and religious interpretations, psychological significance, and application to notable historical and contemporary figures. An organized overview with cross-references and indexing allows the zodiac to be studied from numerous points of view. Artistic representations of each of the 12 houses accompany the text.
Introductory chapters on the origins of the zodiacal signs, the historical foundation of astrology, the zodiac in the first millennium A.D., and the zodiac in the arts and sciences provide a thorough overview and comparative examination of the influence of the zodiac in human history and thought. A detailed timeline synchronizes discoveries and development of zodiacal associations and thought around the world. Appendices list planetary correspondences in jewels, metals, herbs, color, flavor, form, shapes, food preferences, and senses, and the symptoms and pathologies associated with birth signs. The work also contains an extensive bibliography and index.
List of contents
Preface
Introduction
The Zodiac
The Historical Foundation of Astrology
The Zodiac from the First to the Twentieth Century
The Zodiac in the Arts and Sciences
Aries
Taurus
Gemini
Cancer
Leo
Virgo
Libra
Scorpio
Sagittarius
Capricorn
Aquarius
Pisces
Appendix I: A Time Line of Developments in Zodiacal Study
Appendix II: A Comparative Chart of Elements of the Constellations
Appendix III: Geographical Areas Linked with Sun Signs
Appendix IV: Planetary Correspondences
Appendix V: Zodiacal Pathology
Bibliography
Index
About the author
MARY ELLEN SNODGRASS is an award-winning author of reference works and English and Latin textbooks. Her work
The Encyclopedia of Utopian Literature (1996) was cited as an Outstanding Reference Book by the American Library Association and received citations from
Choice and
Library Journal. She is also the author of the
Choice-award-winning
Voyages in Classical Mythology (1994) and of
Japan and the U.S.: Economic Competitors (1993), which received an award from the New York public Library. In addition to publishing 52 works, she was Chair of the English Department at Hickory High School in North Carolina and a columnist for the
Charlotte Observer.